Anywhere But Here
by americangrl69
Summary: AU Original Cindy helps Max figure out her feels for Zack. Post411 on the DL. First part of the Anywhere But Here series. Chapter 3 posted! MZ
1. Confessions

Title: Anywhere But Here  
Fandom: Dark Angel  
Pairing: Max/Zack  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: don't own Dark Angel  
Summary: Original Cindy helps Max figure out her feels.

A/N: i wrote this a while ago. i didn't have a title and when i listened to this song i thought it fit. i didn't think it would make much sense so i put the lyrics in it. its au because Cindy already knows that Max is a transgenic.

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_When I'm in a crowd  
Or on an island by myself  
Silent or too loud  
Wishing I was somewhere else  
And I can't believe  
You hit me fast and hard  
When you turn to me and say  
Never change the way you are_

_Trying to catch your eye  
Things will never look the same  
Now I can't deny  
You're the moth and I'm the flame  
There I go again  
I should walk before I run  
How can I explain  
I can't stop what you've begun_

_I'm falling through the door  
Flying 'cross the floor  
When you look at me suddenly it's clear_

_You're burning up my dreams  
Crazy as it seems  
I don't wanna be anywhere but here  
Anywhere but here_

_What goes on inside  
Is a mystery no doubt  
A roller coaster ride  
I may never work it out  
Here's the brand new me  
Skates around and floats on air  
I'm a sight to see  
Rainbow colors in my hair  
You have set me free  
The one who gets me there_

_Here is the place where  
My head is spinning  
Time is beginning  
To race away  
You come to throw me  
Knock me off my feet  
You give me wings to fly  
The world goes crashing by again  
_  
- Hilary Duff (Anywhere But Here)  
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Zack stared out his apartment window. He couldn't stop thinking about Max. He loved her so much. He just wanted to hold her in his arms and make her feel safe, wanted to kiss her soft lips, he just wanted to be with her. Though a part of him knew it would never happen. He figured, at least for now, he could deal with just being in her life, somehow, even if it was just as her big brother.

Max was at Jam Pony, she should have been working but she wasn't. Instead she was just sitting on the couch in front of the TV, not even paying attention to the television but just thinking.

Original Cindy walked over. She could tell something was up with Max but couldn't tell what. But she was determined to find out. Cindy sat down next to Max, "What going on with you? You've been acting strange all week." she asked.

Max looked up and sighed, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't stop thinking about him and it's driving me crazy."

"Who Logan?" Cindy asked.

"No, it's not Logan. That's what's weird. It's Zack. I can't stop thinking about Zack. God what's wrong with me?" Max replied burying her face in her hands.

Cindy knew exactly what was going on with Max now. She didn't understand why she didn't see it sooner. "Max you got it bad." Cindy stated.

"Huh?" Max asked looking up at her in confusion.

"You're in love with Zack. You're crazy in love with Zack." Original Cindy replied.

"No! No! I'm not in love with Zack. No way." Max protested. She paused for a moment. "Oh my god, I'm in love with Zack." She finally realized. "Okay, what do I do now?" Max asked. She normally didn't act like this but things were different with Zack, now that she thought about it things had always been different with him even when they were kids back at Manticore.

"Well Max you gotta tell him how you feel?" Cindy answered.

"I can't do that. I mean what if he doesn't feel the same way. I don't wanna scare him off." Max said.

A small smile spread across Cindy's face. "Trust me Max, he loves you too. Anyone with eyes can see that." Cindy said reassuringly.

Max thought for a moment then replied, "Well ok. I'll go after work."

"So you going to Crash tonight?" Cindy asked sort of changing the subject.

"Well I planned on it. Why?" Max asked.

Cindy smiled mischievously. "Well if you do make it, you gotta tell me what happens." Cindy said.

Max didn't understand why Cindy had such an interest in her love life but agreed anyway.

After work Max went to Zack's apartment. She wasn't even sure if he was even still in Seattle but knocked on the door away.

Zack looked through the peep hole and saw Max standing on the other side of the door. _Shit, Max. God I can't do this right now._ Zack thought to himself but opened the door anyway. "Max..." Zack said.

"Yeah I know I'm not supposed to be here but there's something I just had to tell you." Max said cutting Zack off.

"You okay? Is everything okay?" Zack asked concerned.

"Yeah. Everything's fine but you should probably sit down." Max replied.

"Uh ok." Zack said sitting down on the couch.

Max took a deep breath. "Ok this isn't gonna be easy so I'm just gonna say it. Zack I'm in love you." Max confessed.

Zack had waited so long to hear those words. He wanted so badly to tell her that he felt the same but for some reason he just couldn't get the words to come out.

A few minutes later Max looked up at him with sad eyes. "I'll just go now." She said, stood up and walked towards the door.

Zack couldn't just let her leave thinking he didn't love her cause he did, god did he. He had to do something. So he stood up and gently grabbed her arm. "Max wait." he said. Max turned around with a slightly happier look in her eyes. Zack leaned down and gently kissed her lips. "I love you too." He whispered.

Max smiled, Cindy had been right, he did love her. "Ok so what do we do now?" Max asked but before Zack could answer her pager went off. She checked it and it was Logan. "It's Logan. I probably better go see what he wants. He been on an Eyes Only kick lately." Max said. "But I promise to come over tomorrow and we can figure things out." Max added. Zack walked her to the door and kissed her once more before she left.

"So what d'ya got?" Max asked.

"Well, I found out Sam Jones is smuggling something out of the country but I'm not sure what." Logan replied.

"So you want me to find out what it is?" Max asked.

"Yeah if you would." Logan replied.

"Yeah but do you mind if I do it tomorrow? I kinda promised Original Cindy I'd hang with her tonight. I haven't exactly spent that much time with her lately." Max asked.

"Alright." Logan said. He would have rather she do it tonight but he knew she'd do what she wanted anyway.

Max through her arms around Logan giving him a big hug not even realizing what it meant to him. "Thanks." Max said happily.

Max walked into Crash and scanned the room for her friends. She spotted Cindy sitting at one of the tables and walked over and plopped herself down in the chair.

Original Cindy turned and looked at Max. "Ok so what happened?" Cindy asked.

"Gee, you don't waste any time do you?" Max asked with a smile.

"Nope so spill." Cindy replied.

"Okay, okay. So, I went to Zack's apartment. He opened the door and I told him I had something to tell him. Of course he thought something was wrong but I reassured him that everything was okay. Then we sat down on his couch and I just told him how I felt." Max explained.

"Ok so what did he say?" Cindy asked.

"Nothing actually. So, anyway I was gonna leave and that's when it happened." Max continued.

"What? What happened?" Cindy interrupted.

"He kissed me." Max smiled. "Then he said he loved me too." Max added.

"Awww." Cindy said smiling.

"But then Logan paged me so I had to go. I'm gonna go see Zack tomorrow though." Max finished.

"What did Logan want?" Cindy asked.

"Oh nothing really." Max said not really wanted to go into it.

"Oh." Cindy said.

A/N: so any good? i've got a few ideas for sequels for this one too. anyways tell me what you thought.


	2. A Sister In Need

HoneyX5-452: no logan's not gonna get in their way. not in this one anyway. maybe in one of my other ones i don't know. i started writing this one before i really started to hate logan. and yes there will definately be a sequel, a couple actually. i'm glad you like it.

NattiAnn: thanks for reviewing. sorry about the bad summary. sometimes i'm not so good at them. if you can come up with a better one, i'm up for suggestions. i like alec but i know what you mean. i've got another mz story if you wanna read that one too. up to you. glad you like the story though.

A/N: ok guys heres the next chapter. hope you like it.

Max arrived at the address Logan had given her. She would have used her bike but borrowed Logan's Aztec instead because she wasn't sure what she'd find, if anything. She parked the Aztec up the hill and quietly made her way down the hill until she came to a chain link fence surrounding what looked to be a bunch of warehouses. Max jumped over the fence landing in a squatting position, quickly scanned the area for guards, and then stood up. Max spotted a much smaller building; she figured it to be some kind of office. She headed for the building when two guards came out of nowhere. Max did a few round kicks knocking them out cold. _This is too easy. _Max thought and continued towards the building.

Max opened the door and quietly closed it behind her. Max scanned the room; there was a desk to the right of her and a file cabinet in the upper left hand corner of the room. She walked over to the desk, it had papers scattered on top of it. She rummaged through the papers but found nothing useful. She then went through the desk drawers, which were mostly empty except for a few office supplies. She then walked over to the file cabinet and went through the drawers. It too was pretty empty except for a few files, which seemed to be employee files or were at one time.

After coming up empty she decided to try a few of the warehouses. Max carefully opened the door, as to not wake the guards. Once outside, she quietly made her way to the first warehouse knocking out a few more guards along the way. She opened the door and walked inside. Max made her way down the first aisle. All she seemed to find were boxes and boxes of, well everything except none of it would help her with Logan's little quest. She once again came up empty and decided to try a few more warehouses.

When she came to the last one she spotted a nice sized TV and smiled. As she got closer she noticed it wasn't just a TV but it also had a built in dvd player as well. _This is so sweet._ Max thought grabbing the TV. Then she remembered seeing a box of old remotes and a box of dvds in the first warehouse she'd searched. She made her way back to the first warehouse and down the aisle with the boxes of remotes and dvds. She dug through the box of remotes until she found a universal remote made by the same company as the TV. She unzipped her backpack and threw the remote in then walked over to the box of dvds, threwa few into her backpack as well. Before she left she went through a box of batteries she'd seen towards the front of the warehouse. She threw in some AA and C batteries into her backpack, then left.

Max quietly crept pass the amazingly still knocked out guards and jumped the fence landing on the other side. She ran up the hill and threw the TV and her backpack into the back of Logan's Aztec. She then headed to her apartment to drop off her stuff.

Max was sitting on Logan's computer desk. "So what did you find?" Logan asked her.

"Nothing. I couldn't find a single thing that would tell me what this sleaze bag was up to." Max replied.

"Well at least you tried." Logan said.

Max looked at her watch. "I should get to work before Normal fires my ass." Max said standing up.

Max walked into Jam Pony. Normal spotted her and stepped in front of her blocking her way. "Where've you been missy?" Normal asked with definite anger in his voice.

"Had a personal errand to run." Max replied.

"Well do it on your own time." Normal said.

_Yeah yeah._ Max thought walking passed Normal and over to Original Cindy.

About an hour later Zack walked in, Normal spotted him and stepped in front of him. "You're pretty brave coming in here." Normal stated.

"I'm lookin' for Max, where is she?" Zack asked but then spotted her talking to OC and walked passed Normal before he could respond.

"Zack, what's wrong?" Max asked.

"It's Tinga. She needs our help." Zack said taking Max's hand.

They started to walk out when Normal asked, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Family emergency." Max replied.

"I didn't think Max had family and who's Tinga?" Sketchy asked Original Cindy.

"Tinga's her sister." Original Cindy replied. Sketchy had a confused look on his face. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you about it later." Cindy said.

"Whatever." Sketchy said already over the subject.

Max and Zack where in Logan's Aztec. Max assumed Zack had borrowed it, which was surprising to her seeing how neither could stand each other.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Zack asked.

"No. I will it's just complicated. I mean I don't wanna hurt him." Max replied.

"Yeah well the longer you put it off the more hurt he's gonna be." Zack said.

"Yeah well it's just complicated." Max said but Zack didn't replied. The rest of the ride to Portland was quiet.

Zack turned down a dark alley.He slowed the car when a female figure stepped out of the shadows. Max focused her vision and saw that the woman was Tinga. Max smiled, jumped out of the car, ran over, and gave her sister a big hug. Tinga hugged Max. "So, what's the problem? Zack told me you needed our help." Max asked after breaking the hug.

"Yeah what's the problem?" Zack asked walking over the duo.

Tinga looked at Zack then at Max. "It's Lydecker. He's got my family, my husband and little boy. He told me that if I don't give myself up he's going to kill them. Max, I just gotta get them out of there." Tinga explained tears in her eyes.

"We will. Don't worry." Max said reassuringly.

"Well first we have to come up with a plan. Is there anywhere we can go?" Zack asked.

Tinga looked at Zack. "Yeah. Surprisingly Lydecker doesn't have my apartment swarming with his men. So, yeah, we can go there." Tinga replied.

The three walked into Tinga's apartment. Tinga and Max sat down on the couch while Zack walked into the other room. Tinga turned to Max. "What's going on with you and Zack?" Tinga asked.

Max turned to look at Zack. "Well I'm in love with him. We're in love." Max replied smiling.

"So why's he seem so mad at you?" Tinga asked.

Max turned back to Tinga. "Oh, it's because I haven't told Logan yet." Max answered.

"Who's Logan?" Tinga asked.

"It's kind of complicated but he has feelings for me and until Zack I thought I did too." Max replied.

"Oh." Tinga said.

"I am going to tell him. It's just complicated. I don't wanna hurt him." Max said.

"Yeah well the longer you put off telling him the more hurt he'll be." Tinga replied.

"That's what Zack said." Max replied.

"Well he's right." Tinga said.

"I know and I'm going to. It's just complicated." Max said.

"You want me to talk to Zack. Maybe I can get him to understand." Tinga offered.

"You'd do that." Max said.

"Of course. You're my baby sister and I want you to be happy." Tinga replied.

"Thanks." Max said hugging Tinga.

Tinga stood up and walked into the other room with Zack. Zack sensed her enter the room and turned around. "We have to talk. Max told me what's going on." Tinga said before Zack could say anything.

"Yeah well did she also tell you about Logan." Zack said.

"Yes. She is going to tell him. Things like that take time. She loves you Zack. Anyone with eyes could see that. It's just the way her face lights up when she talks about you or the way she looks at you. She's crazy about you." Tinga said.

"Yeah and I love her too but she's gotta tell him." Zack said.

"And she will. I just want to see you two happy." Tinga said. "Why don't you just go talk to her." Tinga said.

"Yeah, ok." Zack said giving in.

Zack walked into the other room and sat down on the couch next to Max. "I'm sorry. I don't wanna fight. You can tell Logan when you're ready." Zack said apologizing.

"You mean that." Max said.

"Yeah I do." Zack replied leaning in and kissed her softly on the lips.

Tinga walked into the room and smiled. She was glad to see them happy.

Zack looked up when Tinga walked back into the room. "So do you know where Lydecker's keeping them?" Zack asked.

Tinga nodded. "Yeah, in some warehouse in what used to be the industrial part of Portland." Tinga said.

"Ok well it's almost dark so I think we should wait and leave then. We'll have a better chance of making a sneak attack." Zack said.

After dark, the three transgenics crept around the warehouse Tinga's family was being held. Zack kicked the door down and they were each greeted with guards. Tinga found of her bunch of guards and once the last one was unconscious she went over and took off Charlie's blindfold.

"Penny, what are you doing here? You shouldn't have come." Charlie said.

"I couldn't just leave you and Case here." Tinga said untying the ropes around his wrists.

Charlie looked at the other two figures. "Who are they?" Charlie asked.

Tinga followed his gaze and smiled. "They're my family." Tinga said.

Charlie bend down and started undoing the ropes around his ankles. Tinga walked over and took off Case's blindfold. "Mommy!" Case said.

"Shh. sweetie." Tinga said.

"Oh right." Case said. Case looked at Max and Zack. "Who are they, mommy?" Case asked

"That's your Aunt Max and your Uncle Zack." Tinga said untying Case's restraints.

"Oh I remember Uncle Zack." Case said as Tinga picked him up.

Charlie watched as Max and Zack took out the remaining guards. "Penny, what's going on?" Charlie asked.

Max and Zack walked over to Tinga and her family. "Her name's Tinga." Zack corrected.

Charlie looked at Tinga. "I'll explain later." Tinga said.

"We should go before Lydecker comes back." Zack said.

"He's right, we should go." Max said.

They exited the warehouse and Tinga gently placed a sleeping Case into the backseat, then climbed in, followed by Charlie. Zack got into the driver's seat and Max into the passenger side. "Mind explaining now, Penny?" Charlie said.

Max could tell Zack was going to correct him again and placed her hand on his arm. She shook her head and mouthed, "No." when he looked at her.

Tinga sighed. "I wanted to tell you." Tinga said.

"So tell me now." Charlie said.

Tinga sighed again. "I'm not who you think I am, Charlie. I'm not exactly human. I'm a transgenic. The government created me in a lab." Tinga said. "Remember that story I tellCase before bed. That's my childhood, our childhood." Tinga said.

"You mean them?" Charlie said referring to Max and Zack. Tinga just nodded. Charlie looked at her like he didn't even know her. Tinga felt a tear run down her cheek. "Why didn't you tell me?" Charlie asked.

"I tried but you looked at me the same way you're looking at me now. I'm still the same person you just know my secret now." Tinga said. "Please, Charlie. I love you." Tinga said as another tear ran down her cheek.

"I don't know. I need to think about this." Charlie said.

Later that night, they stood at a bus station. Tinga hugged Max. "I'm gonna miss you." Max said.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Maxie." Tinga said.

"Here's everything you need, new identities, paperwork, everything." Zack said handing Tinga a folder.

"Thanks." Tinga said. Zack just nodded. "Take care of her ok." Tinga said.

"I will." Zack said as he watched Tinga board the bus.

Max and Zack were in the car heading back to Seattle. "Drop me off at Logan's. I need to talk to him." Max said.

Zack looked at her. "Are you..."

"Yeah I am." Max said.

Zack dropped Max off at Logan's and walked back to the apartment. Max walked into Logan's penthouse. "Logan!" Max called.

"Yeah Max, in here!" Logan called from the computer room.

Max leaned against the doorframe. "Can we go into the living room? I need to tell you something." Max asked.

"Sure." Logan said wheeling out of the room and into the living room. Max sat down on the couch and Logan sat in his wheelchair. "What was it you wanted to tell me?" Logan asked.

Max took a deep breath. "I'm in love with Zack." Max said. Logan just stared at her. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I just kind of happened." Max said. Logan still didn't say anything. "I should go." Max said. She stood up and left before Logan could stop her.

"Zack!" Max called as she walked into her apartment. When she got no response she walked into her bedroom. The room was lit with candles and soft music played in the background. "Zack." Max said sitting down on the bed next to him.

"I love you Max." Zack said leaning in and kissing her.

"Make love to me, Zack." Max said after they broke the kiss.

Zack nodded and made love to her the rest of the night.

A/N: ok what did you guys think? any good? let me know.


	3. Surprise

A/N: this was gonna be a four chapter story but i couldn't come up with enough for a full chapter so i just added what i did have to the begining of this one. thanks to those who've read and reviewed this story.

Max woke up the next morning, curled up next to Zack. Original Cindy walked into the room. She smiled slightly. She didn't need to ask what happened last night because the clothes on the floor pretty much told her what happened. "You two want coffee?" Cindy asked.

Max looked at her. "Umm...sure. We'll be right out." Max said. Cindy nodded, turned and left the room. Max gently nudged Zack. "Wake up." Max said.

Zack opened his eyes and looked at Max. "What?" Zack asked still sleepy.

"Cindy's got coffee. Now get up." Max said climbing out of bed and through on some clean clothes.

Zack rubbed his eyes, climbed out of bed and put his clothes back on. The two walked out into the living room. Cindy was already sitting on the couch. Zack walked over and sat down in the chair while Max poured them each a cup of coffee then walked over, handed Zack his coffee and sat down on the couch next to Cindy. Max turned to Cindy. "So you think we can convince Normal to give Zack his job back?" Max asked her.

"I don't know but we can try." Cindy replied.

Six months later

Max was at work and Zack as at the apartment on his cell phone. "Hi. Krit?" Zack said.

"Oh hi Zack. What's up? Is something wrong?" Krit asked.

"No not this time. I sort of had this idea."

"Oh really. So what's this idea of yours?" Krit asked.

"I was thinking about bringing Max to see you guys."

"Oh Syl'll love that."

"Yeah but you can't tell her."

"Oh don't worry I won't tell her." Krit said.

"Tell me what?" Syl asked walking into the room.

Krit looked at her. "Oh nothing."

"Yeah ok but you know I'll get it out of you eventually." Syl said kissing Krit on the cheek then left the room again.

"So when where you going to come?" Krit asked Zack.

"Well I have another surprise planned for Max tonight but we'll leave tomorrow."

"Ok."

"Oh and just incase something should happen call this number." Zack said then gave Krit, Max's number.

"Ok great. Well we'll see you guys in a few days."

"Yeah." Zack said then hung up the phone.

Zack grabbed his jacket and headed out the door for Jam Pony. He walked in and was glad to see that Max wasn't around. He walked up to Normal, who was behind his counter. Normal looked up at Zack. "You know you didn't have to come in today." Normal said.

"Yeah I know I just wanted to make sure it was still ok that Max and I take a few days off." Zack said.

"Yes I already told you it was."

Zack nodded and went to find Cindy. Cindy looked up at Zack when he walked over. "Oh hi Zack." Cindy said.

"Hi. I just wanted to make sure we're still set for tonight." Zack said.

"Yes. I'll make sure Max gets there don't worry." Cindy said. "Now go before she gets back."

That night, Cindy brought Max back to the apartment and led her up to the roof. "Cindy why are going up to the roof?" Max asked.

"You'll see now just close your eyes." Cindy said.

Max sighed but did as she was told. Cindy opened the door to the roof and gave Max a little push. She closed the door once Max was on the roof.

Zack took Max's hand and let her to a table set for two. Cindy'd actually helped Zack with the dinner seeing as most X5's can't cook. "Alright you can open your eyes now Max." Zack said.

Max opened her eyes and couldn't help but smile. It was beautiful, the table was set and there was a single candle lit in the middle, and the entire roof was lit up with small Christmas lights. Max looked at Zack. "When did you do all this?" Max asked.

"Today while you were at work."

"Well it's beautiful Zack."

Zack just smiled at her which was rare but he found himself doing it a lot more lately. He pulled out a chair for her. Max sat down and the two ate dinner.

After they finished eating, Zack got down on one knee. "Max, I love you, you know that. I'd do anything to make you happy." Zack said. He pulled out a little black box and opened it. "Max, will you marry me?"

Max smiled. "Yes I'll marry you Zack."

Zack slid the ring on her finger. He blew out the candle then they went back downstairs and made love.

Max was in the bathroom of Jam Pony. She'd felt different for the last few weeks, even before Zack had asked her to marry him. She'd suspected for a while that she could be pregnant but wasn't sure. She looked at the test and smiled. _I am pregnant now all I have to do is tell Zack._ Max thought. She threw the test in the garbage and walked out of the bathroom. Max walked over to her locker.

Cindy saw Max leave the bathroom and walked over to her. "So what did it say?" Cindy asked. Max had told her earlier that she thought she might be pregnant and Cindy just wanted to know if she was or not.

Max looked over at her and nodded. "Yeah I'm pregnant." Max said.

Zack walked in a few hours later. "Come on Max we gotta go." Zack said as he walked up to her.

"But I have work, Zack. So do you." Max said.

"No we don't. I cleared it with Normal."

"Uh ok. Where are we going?" Max asked as she started to follow Zack out.

"It's a surprise."

They walked out of Jam Pony and were immediately greeted with tazors and they went down. Two men grabbed Max and held her still. Max tried to get away but couldn't. Two other men grabbed Zack and started to hall him into the back of a van. "Zack!" Max yelled still struggling to get free.

"Max I love you." Zack said as the men loaded him into the van.

"Zack! Zack!" Max yelled as she watched the van pull away.

Cindy who'd see the whole thing walked out and wrapped her arms around Max. "It'll be ok, Max. We'll get him back." Cindy said trying to comfort her. Max just cried.

A/N: so what did you think? like it? let me know. oh and i've got two alternate endings for this one that i'll try to get out sometime this week then i'll start with the first sequel that'll go along with this original ending.


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